In recent years, consumer demand for personal computers (PCs) and other computing systems has increased dramatically. Some of the demand is due to lower prices as well as the relative ease of using such a system with user-friendly software applications. As with any human engineered system however, computing systems can and do malfunction from time to time for various reasons. The causes which give rise to such malfunctions include attempts by customers to add-on or reconfigure hardware and/or software associated with a system. While being viewed increasingly as a commodity item, the PC remains an “open box” environment, subject to additions of wayward hardware (H/W) and software (S/W) components that can destabilize while purporting to enhance the overall system.
When a computing system becomes unstable or otherwise inoperable, a technician (in-person or over the telephone) may attempt to ascertain the nature of the problem. For example, a technician may try to carefully walk a customer through various operating system (OS) and/or basic input-output system (BIOS) configuration screens over the telephone. The customer has to understand and read back the configuration settings to the technician which is an error-prone and frustrating process at best. This frustrating process typically follows a lengthy wait time which further taints a customer's mood.
Furthermore, because of the increasing complexity of the PC and a decreasing ability to quickly troubleshoot problems (especially in the field), major subsystem “swap-outs” have become more common as a “shotgun” approach to troubleshooting. These swap-outs typically have limited effectiveness when the replaced components are not the cause of the problem in the first place. Thus, a second, third, etc. service call is necessary to attempt to cure the problem. For example, during a service call, a technician may first replace the motherboard rather than attempt to diagnose the true nature of the problem. Replacing a motherboard results in downtime for the customer and, as further inconvenience, the customer typically has to go through a laborious process to reconfigure the system with the new motherboard. Motherboard replacements or swap-outs have been an issue for some time within the personal computing industry. Unfortunately, it often turns out that a replaced motherboard is fully operational and was not the problem which initiated the service call. Thus, the customer is again forced to initiate a service call and go through the frustrating and inefficient process once again.